In only four years, Tad Boyle has accomplished only what a select few have done before him in the annals of the University of Colorado men’s basketball program. And yet Boyle continues to rewrite and lead the Buffaloes to greater heights not seen in a half of century.

Boyle, 51, enters his fifth year with CU men’s basketball program having already established a .648 winning percentage, the best among all CU basketball head coaches with a minimum of two years at the helm.

Under his tutelage, he has won an impressive 92 games at CU, the fastest win total in the shortest amount of time in school history, and his postseason winning percentage of .650, also ranks first (with a school-best 13 victories).

“Tad continues to make Colorado more than relevant,” ESPN.com Senior College Basketball Writer Andy Katz said. “He has made them into one of the top teams in the West. Now you can count on Colorado being in play for the top tier in the Pac-12 and an NCAA bid. Colorado may have joined the Pac-12 for football first but the Buffaloes have been a boon in basketball."

In four seasons, Boyle and his coaching staff have rewritten the CU record book:

• Owns four of CU’s eight 20+ winning seasons.• First CU head coach in school history to guide program to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.• Owns or shares four of the winningest seasons in school history.

• First CU coach to lead Buffs to four consecutive post-season appearances (2010-11 NIT semifinal; 2011-12 NCAA 3rd Round; 2012-13 NCAA 2nd Round; 2013-14 NCAA 2nd Round).• First CU coach to win 20 games in each of his first four years AND first CU coach to have four, 20-win seasons.• 24 wins each in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 • 23 wins in 2013-14 • 21 in 2012-13.

• 13-7 (.650) in postseason games (9-3 conference, 3-1 NIT, 1-3 NCAA) over the last four years.• .650 postseason winning percentage, ranks first in school history.• 7-2 in the Pac-10/Pac-12 Conference Tournament history (.778). Record and Winning % rank first.

• Advanced to the conference tournament semifinals three of the last four years (Pac-12: 2014 & 2012; Big 12: 2011).

Not just a presence at the Coors Events Center, the 18th head coach in school history, Boyle is an active ambassador in the community throughout the Centennial State:

• One of three court coaches for the 2013 USA Basketball Men’s World University Games training camp (assisting the 2013 USA Basketball Men’s World University Games coaching staff during the June 24-July 1 training camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.).

• Official starter of the 34th Annual Bolder Boulder (May 2012), the largest road race in the United States where all participants are timed and the fifth largest road race in the world.

• In December 2012, the men’s basketball team visited the Children's Hospital at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.

• September 2012, Boyle was invited to Washington, D.C. with other college basketball coaches to urge Congress to protect federal funding for cancer research and prevention programs on Capitol Hill.

• December 2011, the team volunteered with the non-profit Share-A-Gift program, an organization helping families of need acquire children's toys for the holidays. Both programs are part of the CU Athletics Leadership Development Program. The program is designed to develop a culture of leadership in which CU student-athletes act with personal responsibility, integrity and accountability while staying committed in both principle and actions to the greater good.

• In September 2011, Boyle joined 20 other coaches from the Front Range for a two-day coaching seminar with former Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl, the 2012-13 NBA Coach of the Year.

“This is it (my dream job), there’s no doubt,” Boyle said after being named head coach on April 19, 2010. “I remember talking with (Maryland men’s head coach) Mark Turgeon once when he asked me where I wanted to be in 10 years, and I said, the head coach at the University of Colorado. This is a destination job. I’m humbled and honored.”

In his first season (2010-11), Boyle began to set the standard for exciting things to come, capping the season with a trip to the World’s Most Famous Arena - Madison Square Garden and a National Invitation Tournament semifinal appearance. The Buffaloes won a school-record 24 games, including 18 school-best wins at the Coors Events Center, establishing one of the best home court advantages in all of college basketball.

“They’re the heartbeat of this arena, they are the difference makers," Boyle said of the Coors Events Center crowd after a home victory. “To have that (student) section full was key, and I just want them to know that we appreciate and need them.”

Boyle earned National Coach of the Week honors (Hoops Report, Jan. 10-16) after leading the Buffs to a 3-0 conference start, including wins over No. 9/8 Missouri and No. 21/20 Kansas State. The win over the Wildcats gave CU its first road win over a nationally ranked opponent since January 1997 (No. 20 Texas Tech). CU defeated four ranked teams, including a 22-point comeback win (second greatest comeback in school history) upsetting No. 5/5 Texas, 91-89.

In year two (2011-12), Boyle became the first CU coach to begin the conference season with back-to-back 3-0 starts, and was the first coach since Frosty Cox (1935-36, 1936-37) to win his conference opener in back-to-back years. He also won his 40th game (home win vs. Oregon) in just 61 games tying Cox (1935-39).

Boyle continued to make most of his “dream job” a reality for CU fans guiding the Buffaloes to the 2011-12 NCAA Tournament (third round), another 24-win season, and a conference championship in its inaugural season of the Pac-12, winning four games in four days at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

For his efforts, Boyle became the first CU head coach to earn the District 20 Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), an award voted among his coaching peers. The 48 wins were a school-best in any two-year span of the program.

“I’m a believer in Tad Boyle,” said Jay Bilas, ESPN College Basketball Analyst. “He is not only a terrific teacher of the game with great basketball knowledge, he keeps it simple and gives his players an understanding of what you need to do to win, but a firm understanding of how teams lose, too. Boyle has tremendous toughness in him. He is demanding without being demeaning, and he puts his players in position to achieve together without fear of failing. That’s what truly outstanding coaches do, and Tad Boyle is a truly outstanding coach.”

In year three (2012-13), Boyle guided the Buffs to another NCAA Tournament appearance, the second year in-a-row, becoming the first CU coach in 50 years to guide the program to back-to-back tournament appearances. CU won 21 games, the third straight season the program eclipsed the 20-win plateau, also a school-first. After the team won their first mid-season tournament since the 2002-03 season, the Charleston Classic, the Buffs reached the nation’s Top-25 polls for the first time since 2005-06 (No. 19 AP/USA Today Coaches’ Poll, Nov. 26); AP No. 23 ranked, Nov. 19).

Attendance records also set a brand new high standard as the men’s basketball team was the best ticket in town setting a number of school records, including seven sellouts; 12 of 15 home games exceeded 10,000 fans or better, in addition to season total (155,884); season average (10,392); conference total (94,371); and conference average (10,486). The attendance surge ranked third nationally among all Division I programs for largest increased average from the previous year.

Success continued for Boyle and his coaching staff in year four (2013-14) as the Buffs won 23 games, the third most victories in school history. Another NCAA Tournament followed for a school record third consecutive season, in addition setting a pair of attendance records (season total: 173,429; non-conference total: 84,133). The staff enjoyed their best start to a season in four years (14-2), a No. 15 nationally ranking, the highest a CU team has seen since 1997, and a 10-game winning streak, the fourth longest in the programs history.

Prior to his arrival to Boulder, Boyle resurrected the basketball program at the University of Northern Colorado, where he guided the Bears to a 56-66 record (.459) the past four seasons, including a breakout season in 2009-10, when the Bears were 25-8 (.758) and finished second in the Big Sky Conference. For his efforts, he was awarded the NABC Division I All-District Coach of the Year, the Big Sky Coach of the Year by both The Sporting News and CollegeInsider.com, where he was also named a finalist for the National Mid-Major Coach of the Year award.

“This exciting process was all about both the young men we have currently and those in the future who will be joining our program, and is an investment in them and represents the competitive spirit, teamwork, passion and dedication they stand for,” then-CU athletic director Mike Bohn said.

“Tad Boyle represents everything that is right about college basketball. We look forward to his leadership, poise and competitive drive to unite all our collective Buff interests to support our team and this enterprise that has so much promise for the long term.”

A Greeley, Colo., native, Boyle was named the 17th coach in UNC history on April 25, 2006. At that point, the Bears were in the midst of a transition to Division I in its first season as a member of the Big Sky Conference. Northern Colorado finished 4-24 in his first season when squad finished last nationally in the final RPI rankings for that season. There were, however, flashes of times to come that season, including close losses to both Colorado (88-86) and Colorado State (75-66).

Over the next two seasons at UNC, he improved the team’s win total from four to 13 and then 14. The Bears defeated Colorado State, 72-59, in his second season and also knocked off San Diego State, 72-59. The Aztecs were ranked among the nation’s top 50 teams in the RPI rankings at that time. In year three, the Bears had improved from one conference win his first season to an even 8-8 mark and earned the school’s first Division I post season trip, to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

It all came together for Boyle in his fourth season in Greeley, as the Bears advanced to the post season for the first time in school history, advancing to the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsiders.com Tournament while racking up a school record 25 victories. He coached one first-team All-Big Sky member and also the Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

Prior to Northern Colorado, he spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Wichita State and was part of another turn around that saw the Shockers improve from 9-19 (.321) his first year there to one of the nation’s top mid-major teams in 2006 when Wichita State went 26-9 and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The Shockers eventually lost to Final Four Cinderella George Mason in the regional semifinals, but not before they had secured the No. 21 ranking in the final collegiate polls.

Boyle played collegiately for legendary coach Larry Brown at Kansas (1981-85). He was a member of two NCAA Tournament teams (1984, 1985) and was part of the 1984 Big Eight Tournament championship squad. As a senior, Boyle captained the Jayhawks, which featured freshman Danny Manning, who three years later led the Jayhawks to the NCAA Championship.

After earning a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Kansas in 1985, Boyle went on to serve six years as a high school basketball coach at various Colorado programs. He was the sophomore basketball coach at Greeley (Colo.) West for a year and then was an assistant coach at Loveland (Colo.) High School for two years.

From there, he served at Longmont (Colo.) High School for three years before returning to the college ranks.

It was at Kansas that Boyle played alongside Turgeon, whom he also coached with at Oregon under Jerry Green. Boyle’s first collegiate coaching job in 1994 was on Green’s Ducks staff, where he spent three seasons and helped the Ducks to the 1995 NCAA Tournament and the 1997 National Invitational Tournament. In 1997, Boyle followed Green to Tennessee, where he was director of basketball operations when the Vols won 20 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Boyle reconnected with Turgeon the following year, this time as an assistant coach at Jacksonville State (Ala.), where they helped turn a team that was 8-18 into a 17-11 squad in just one season.

Before heading to play collegiately at Kansas, Boyle was a standout performer at Greeley Central High School, where he led the Wildcats to a state championship as a senior in 1981 and earned Colorado Player of the Year honors as well as being selected to the Converse All-American team. His high school jersey was retired at the conclusion of his senior season.

Boyle is married to the former Ann Schell of Greeley, and they have two sons, Jack and Pete, and a daughter, Claire.

Tad Boyle's Year-by-Year Coaching Record

Season

Team (Position)

Record

Pct

Note

1994-95

Oregon (AC)

19-9

.679

NCAA Tournament, 11-7 in Pac-10

1995-96

Oregon (AC)

16-13

.551

1996-97

Oregon (AC)

17-11

.607

NIT Tournament

1997-98

Tennessee (DOBO)

20-9

.690

NCAA Tournament

1998-99

Jacksonville State (AC)

8-18

.308

1999-00

Jacksonville State (AC)

17-11

.607

12-6 in TAAC

2000-01

Wichita State (AC)

9-19

.321

2001-02

Wichita State (AC)

15-15

.500

9-9 in MVC

2002-03

Wichita State (AC)

18-12

.600

NIT Tournament, 12-6 in MVC

2003-04

Wichita State (AC)

21-11

.656

NIT Tournament, 12-6 in MVC

2004-05

Wichita State (AC)

22-10

.688

NIT 3rd Round, 12-6 in MVC

2005-06

Wichita State (AC)

26-9

.743

NCAA Sweet 16, MVC Regular Season Champs (14-4)

2006-07

Northern Colorado (HC)

4-24

.143

Bears' first year in Big Sky Conference

2007-08

Northern Colorado (HC)

13-16

.448

2008-09

Northern Colorado (HC)

14-18

.438

Qualified for first Big Sky Tournament

2009-10

Northern Colorado (HC)

25-8

.758

CIT Quarterfinals, most wins in school history

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

Colorado (HC)

Colorado (HC)

Colorado (HC)

Colorado (HC)

24-14

24-12

21-12

23-12

.632

.667

.636

.657

NIT Semifinals; most wins in school history (24); most wins by a first-year coach; most home wins (18).NCAA Tournament (Third Round); Pac-12 Tournament Championship; Tied school-record wins in a season (24)

NCAA Tournament (Second Round); School-first three-straight 20+ winning seasons; first CU coach to lead team to three consecutive post-season appearances.

NCAA Tournament (Second Round); School Records: First time CU MBB head coach to guide program to four-straight post-season appearances; first time the program reached three-consecutive NCAA Tournaments; first time three-straight 20+ wins seasons; 92 wins at CU is the fastest any coach has won that many in the shortest time; Owns four of the school's eight 20-win seasons; .648 winning percentage (all games) and .650 post-season winning percentage, rank first in school history.